1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for generating an image using a multi-channel filter, and more particularly, to an apparatus and method for generating an image using a multi-channel filter, wherein images input into a plurality of image sensors are allowed to pass through different filters, each of which includes a plurality of channels, and segmented images passed through the filters are combined to produce a desired image.
2. Description of the Related Art
Because of the development of technology, users can produce various digital images. In particular, with the distribution of personal computers (PCs) and the shift from using analog cameras to digital cameras, the number of users producing digital still images is being rapidly increased. With the advent of camcorders, users producing digital moving pictures are also emerging. As the functions of digital cameras or camcorders are adapted to cellular phones, the number of users who produce digital images is increasing.
A camera module generally includes a lens and an image sensor. The lens serves to focus light reflected from a subject, and the image sensor serves to sense and convert the focused light to electrical image signals. The image sensor can be largely composed of a camera tube and a solid-state image sensor. A charge coupled device (CCD) or a metal oxide silicon (MOS) device is a representative example of the solid-state image sensor.
Generally, in order to acquire color images, three color channels, i.e., red (R), green (G), and blue (B) are used. As such, since images are created using a limited number of color channels, desired color images may not be produced.
In this regard, a 3×2 filter may be implemented by adding three channels to a 2×2 filter for filtering RGB color channels. However, as the size of a filter increases, target images may be blurred.
Therefore, it is necessary to produce desired images using a plurality of color channels without changing the size of a filter.